Pitch Perfect
by Mlle Karo
Summary: Jamie Bennett never wanted to go to college. Biding his time until he can move to L.A. and follow his dreams, he gets cajoled into joining one of the campus a cappella groups. He'll make friends, make more-than-friends, and maybe actually have fun. Maybe, possibly, college isn't as bad as he thinks. Pitch Perfect! Bennefrost AU.
1. Auditions

**A.N/** Hello! This is my bennefrost Pitch Perfect au! :D I've already written chapter two, which will be up in a sec.

Hopefully, this fic will focus on the relationships between all the characters, not just Jamie and Jack.

Also, since the movie shows nothing but the actual competitions, there'll be scenes in between - in particular, I'm thinking a Christmas party...

Feel free to drop me a message if you have any suggestions, or a ship you want to see!

* * *

Jamie sighed as he threw his bag down on his bed. College. Whoop de doo. Rubbing a hand through his hair, the student started to unpack his laptop and speakers - likely the only things that would keep him sane during the year. Why had his father made him come...?

His thought was cut-off as soon as it formed by a knocking on the door; the door opened before he could say anything.

Jamie rolled his eyes. "You know, Sophie, the only point of knocking is so that people say when you can come in."

"Aw, nice to see you too," his sister said with a grin as she shoved his bag onto the floor and sitting in its place. "How did you get here? Dad was upset that you didn't want to drive with us."

"I took a cab," Jamie spun around in his chair. "I've gotta get out of here, Soph. I didn't even want to go to college!"

"Yeah, you want to be a DJ, right? Apparently everyone does once you hit college. Remember our old babysitter? Shoot, what was her name... Oh, Carla. She wanted to be a DJ, too."

"What happened to her?" Jamie asked, curious despite himself.

"Oh, she dropped out of school and she worked in a store for two years before going to business school." Sophie started going through his bag as she spoke. "But still - if college isn't doing it for you, just drop out, and come back later, or maybe never! That's the whole point; we can do what we want. You got any gum?"

"No, and - how do you even know all that? And - ugh, forget it. I'm not going anywhere without Dad paying for it, and we both know he won't. He's so set on college... Are you seriously excited for this?"

"Well yeah! I mean, it's living with all your friends, away from Mom and Dad..." Sophie tucked her feet under her legs and rested her chin on her hand. "You're super pessimistic about this, and it hasn't even started yet! Have you met your roommate yet?"

"Uh, no, his name is like Harry or Harold or something -"

His sister interrupted him once again. "See, maybe you'll be friends! And hey, think of it like this - stick around for the year, at least - afterwards just tell Dad that you're done, and he won't be able to blame you, because you tried. Right?"

Jamie tried to find the fault in her reasoning and frowned when he couldn't. "Yeah, guess so. Thanks, Soph." He offered her a half-smile in thanks.

"Awh, I know, I'm always right! Okay, I'm going to go check out all the clubs and stuff. You wanna come, or are you going to stick around and meet your roommate?" Sophie stood up and straightened her t-shirt, looking up at him expectantly. She never had caught up with him in height.

Jamie stared at his sister for a few seconds before letting out a sigh and standing, shaking his head the whole time despite his smile. "I'll come with," he said, "Hopefully there won't be anything too lame."

His sister cheered and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him out onto the quad. Let the school year commence.

* * *

Jack opened the door to his dorm room, not sure what to expect. Despite that, he still managed to get shocked to a stand-still.

"Um," he said, staring at the room.

Half of the room had been totally tricked out with Christmas lights, flickering red and green at intervals. Posters for various holiday movies decorated the walls; an actual stocking was hanging over the bed. A jingle was his only warning when a really short guy jumped out from behind the door, wearing a joker hat that tinkled with bells.

"Hey! I'm your roomie, Dave, but you can call me Dingle, everyone does! You're Jack, right? Jack Frost, like the movie!"

"Uh, yeah... Hi, Dingle," Jack replied, trying not to laugh. "So, you big on Christmas then?"

"Yeah, totally! I..." his wide, somewhat dim-witted smile slid off his face. "I'm sorry, is it too much? I can take it down, if you want me to -"

"Dingle! It's okay," Jack reassured him, patting him absentmindedly. "Don't worry about it. It's a bit weird, but I can work with it." He dropped his bag at the foot of the free bed. "So, after I un-pack, want to go check out what Burgess University has to offer? Unless you don't want to stick together, which is cool too." It didn't really bother him either way, he was used to being alone. But he would be lying if he said he didn't want the company.

"Oh! Yes, that would be amazing! I can show you around, I toured this place like seven times since I got accepted, I almost know it perfectly! The student unions are all doing little publicity things in the quad, if you want to go look, but there's only one club at BU that's worth joining," Dingle said, jumping up and down on the balls of his feet.

Jack smiled. His sister did the same thing. "And what would that be?"

"The Guardians," his roommate answered in an almost reverent whisper. "They won the Nationals a cappella contest last year, they're the best!"

"A cappella? Like, singing?" Jack asked, lifting an eyebrow as he put down his sheets. "I didn't know that was an actual thing in college. Sounds pretty cool! So you can sing?"

"Oh, yeah! I was in glee club in high school." Yeah, he could picture that pretty easily. "I love music." Dingle grinned before launching into the first verse of 'Deck the halls'. "Good?"

"Yeah, that was great man," Jack chuckled, pushing his bag under the bed. "Bit high pitched, but impressive. You going to join, then? Or try out?"

"Yeah! You should too, I - I heard you singing down the hallway," Dingle confessed. "You can sing really well, and it would be cool to try out together, right?"

"Sure thing, man," Jack laughed. "I'm about done; lead the way!" When his roommate started bouncing towards the door, Jack felt obliged to grab him by the arm and cut him off.

"Dingle? Leave the hat."

* * *

Jamie had never seen so many teenagers in his life. There were people everywhere, and apparently clubs for everything. Singing, art, sport, languages, fan clubs, and just about anything else under the sun. Sophie quickly spotted some old friends from high school and ran off to meet them, which left him alone with all these people. He was starting to despair; there was nothing here for mixing or DJing. Hadn't Sophie said that that was popular in college? Apparently not.

As he was walking around, trying to find the will to not go hide in his room, he was called over to one of the stands.

"Hi!" The girl who called him said, smiling cheerfully. Her brown hair was bouncy as she turned to him, curls swinging all over the place. "I'm Katherine, what's your name?"

"Uh, Jamie," he introduced himself. Katherine looked just as old as everyone else here, that awkward period where you weren't quite a teenager, not quite an adult, but something about her was motherly. It was comforting.

"Nice to meet you, Jamie. This is Pippa, and we're in charge of the Burgess Believers, the - if you don't mind me saying - best a cappella group on campus. Are you into that kind of thing?"

"A cappella? That's a thing?" Jamie tried not to wince.

"Definitely!" Pippa chirped, adjusting her beret and smiling. "We compete against other schools, and last year we even made it to Nationals!"

"But you didn't win," Jamie guessed. Her smile dropped as she pursed her lips at him.

"We're one of four a cappella groups on campus," Katherine continued. "There's the High Notes," she nodded towards a group of stoners lying on the ground, "Their name basically explains it all. Then there's the BU Harmonics, over there. They're really big on Madonna. And then there are the Guardians, over there!"

Jamie raised his eyebrows. "More than a thing, then."

"Yeah, it's pretty big," Pippa agreed, finding her smile once more. "Here, take a flyer! You should come to the auditions, I'm sure you would love it!"

"Oh, no... No, I'm sure that this whole a cappella thing is cool and all, this isn't really my scene at all," he confessed. "I'm sorry... It was really nice meeting the two of you!" He smiled and took the piece of paper between two fingers as he backed away.

Katherine and Pippa watched him walk away with pursed lips. "Great. Now what?" Pippa asked, clenching the flyers in her fist until they were completely wrinkled.

"Now, Pippa, we keep trying," Katherine said, pasting on a smile again as she called out to a passing blonde. "Hi, would you like to join our competitive a cappella group?"

* * *

Jamie ended up getting a job at the school's radio station. His first day on the job he barely arrived on time to get introduced to the _very_ handsome DJ. Whenever he turned his back the freshman would take advantage to stare. He could take the stacking CDs for this. Maybe.

When his co-worker finally showed up, Jamie recognized the white hair and groaned under his breath.

"Hey, I know you!"

"No, you don't," Jamie denied as he turned to the shelves, mentally taking back everything he had said about this job.

"Yeah, I do!" The white head of hair popped up on the other side of the shelf, grinning. "I sang to you on the first day. You were in a taxi, I remember. I'm Jack Frost."

"Jamie Bennett," Jamie said. "This sucks," he admitted. "I wanted to make music, not just... stack CDs."

"Really? Because that's like, the only reason I'm here. Stacking CDs is my one true passion." Jack grinned, eyes twinkling mischievously.

Jamie looked up at him and continued working. He seemed like a cool guy, he guessed, but he wasn't really in the mood to talk. That didn't seem to bother Jack, though.

"So, what's the deal with you?" he asked, putting away the disks cheerfully. "Are you one of those mysterious misunderstood loner guys who takes of his glasses and is suddenly really cute and friendly?"

"I don't wear glasses," Jamie mumbled, cheeks heating. When he turned back around, Jack was right in his face.

"Then you're half-way there," he grinned.

* * *

Despite all of Sophie's insistence, Jamie's first month of college wasn't that great. His roommate was about as awkward as he was quiet, and he hardly had any friends. His internship hadn't evolved past stacking CDs, and Jack still flirted and joked and tried to break the silence to no avail. Most of the time, Jamie just skipped classes to make new mix tracks. Sophie could occasionally convince him to go get drinks with her and her friends, and when that didn't work, she would barge into his room and yell at him. In the end, she gave him an ultimatum: join a club, and she would personally plead with their father to let him move to L.A.

Say what you will, Sophie Bennett drove a hard bargain.

He mulled over it as he walked to the showers, singing under his breath.

_"You shout it loud, but I can't hear a word you say,"_ he put down his shower bag and hung up his towel. _"I'm criticized but all your bullets ricochet."_ He shrugged off his robe and closed the curtain behind him, turning on the water.

Jamie continued as he tested the temperature, rocking lightly from side to side as he waited for it to heat up. His only warning was the crinkle of the curtain being pulled back before he turned around to see the grinning face of Katherine, from the a capella group.

"Oh my God!" he yelled, pulling the curtain back as his face burned red.

"You can sing!" she insisted, ripping it open once more. Jamie grabbed his towel and wrapped it around his hips, blushing furiously.

"Do you mind?!"

"How high does your belt go?" she asked, leaning over to shut off the water stream.

"Oh my God, my what?!" Jamie crowded against the wall, holding his towel up desperately.

"You have to audition for the Believers," Katherine urged, her wet hair dripping around her face. Jamie stared at a point over her shoulder, praying to every god he knew of for a way out of this.

"I can't concentrate on anything you're saying until you cover your junk," he wheezed.

The girl sighed and yanked his bathrobe down from its hook and shrugged it on. Jamie finally moved his eyes to look at her.

"Please consider it," she said, smiling earnestly. "We sang back-up for Prince once! He has the cutest butt," she giggled.

"Yeah, that's fantastic, can you get out?"

"Come on! You were singing Titanium, right?"

Jamie paused, untensing for a moment. "You know David Guetta?"

"Have I been living under a rock for a year?" Katherine countered, grinning. "That song is my jam!" She winked at him, and he shuddered.

"That's nice, can you-"

"Would you sing it for me?" Jamie stared at her. "I'm not leaving until you sing."

Jamie started to inch towards the door, but she stepped in front of him, getting up in his face with that bright, wide smile of hers. He looked down at the floor, and she made a sound of determination before going to un-tie the bathrobe belt.

"I'll do it!" the boy yelped. "Just... just keep that on." When she backed up, glancing at him expectantly, he sighed and tried to pretend he was somewhere else. _"I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose."_

She took him by surprise and joined in, their voices echoing throughout the shower hall. _"Fire away, fire away. Ricochet, you take your aim. Fire away, fire away, you shoot me down, but I won't fall. I am titanium, you shoot me down, but I won't fall, I am titanium."_

He blinked. That had sounded... not bad. He offered her a half-smile before coughing awkwardly.

"Oh, right! Sorry!" she apologized, actually sounding sincere. "I'm very... confident about... all this," she motioned over herself.

"You should be," Jamie said, nodding his head. "Can you just-?"

She nodded and he looked away as she took off his robe and slung it back on the hook. He was about to turn back to his shower when a larger form entered his vision.

Oh God, what was it with naked people in college?

The guy was leaning against the wall, completely unashamed as he checked them both out. He had bleached hair like Jack's. "You have a lovely voice," he said, smiling.

"Thanks," Katherine and Jamie said at the same time. They looked at one another before Jamie looked away again, blushing.

"Come on, Nightlight," she said, taking the guy by the hand and leading him out of Jamie's stall. "See you at auditions!" she called over her shoulder cheerfully as the curtain fell back into place.

Jamie waited for about seven seconds before sagging against the wall and laughing in disbelief. What the fuck. What the actual fuck?!

It looked like Sophie would get her wish.

* * *

Jack wasn't ashamed to admit it - he zoned out during the speech at the start of auditions. There were more people than he expected; he had thought it was kind of a loser thing to do. Then again, he was a loser, too. Dingle was jingling his leg anxiously as he watched the singers each take their turn (It had taken Jack all of his efforts to convince him to come without the bell hat), making comments at each performance. Jack kept his opinions to himself and merely watched.

He watched as the stream of people went past, some good, some bad - a cute, short blond girl; a thickset guy with an incredibly deep voice and a ponytail; a twiggy boy with bright red glasses and a complexion like spoilt milk; a pair of twins who sang together. Dingle couldn't help but be awkward when he sang, and Jack knew that despite his talent, he probably wouldn't get accepted. Not in the Guardians, in any case - they were seriously elitist when it came to their members, apparently.

As for his own song, he was pretty sure he nailed it. Although he had interrupted one of his high notes to say "That's high, Jesus!" he considered himself among the best that tried out. Which might be vain of him, but he never said the contrary. Jack frowned when he saw that Jamie hadn't tried out. He had been so sure that he would!

"Oh, wait, there's one more person!" one of the Believers said, interrupting the announcement that auditions were over. "Hi!" She said warmly, smiling over at...

Jack grinned widely. Jamie.

"Hello," he replied, walking across the stage to fidget awkwardly near the edge. "I didn't know we had to prepare that song," he admitted.

"Oh, no problem, just sing whatever," the girl replied, earning a strange look from her partner and the Guardians. Jack leaned forward in his seat. This would be good.

Jamie sat down on the edge and reached for the cup on the table. "May I?" When he got approval he emptied it on the desk and took it in his hand. After a deep breath, he started tapping out a beat on it, using his hands and the stage itself to make the cup sing.

_"I've got my ticket for the long way round, two bottles of whisky for the way. And I sure would like some sweet company, and I'm leaving tomorrow, what do you say? When I'm gone, when I'm gone, you're gonna miss me when I'm gone. You're gonna miss me by my hair, you're gonna miss me everywhere, oh I know you're gonna miss me when I'm gone."_

He looked up expectantly at the two girls, who were smiling and nodding amongst themselves.

Jack grinned and bit his thumb. Things were getting interesting.

* * *

**Review?**


	2. Initiation Night

**A.N/ **Chapter two! This is the last one I have written, so the update might not be for a few days still. In any case, please enjoy! Feel free to message me if you have any questions or ideas for ships or events!

* * *

Jack left the audition hall, fairly confident in his performance. Yeah, he would definitely get the spot, and hey, not everyone was great; maybe Dingle would get a chance after all. He certainly hoped so. He started to turn towards his dorm when he saw Jamie leaving the building and grinned, starting to head back to talk to him. He was maybe half-way there when one of the girls from the audition _launched_ herself at Jamie. Jack immediately started digging through his bag, trying to act casual and definitely not eavesdropping! Nope, not him! He tried to remember who the girl was; blond with a belly-button piercing, he could faintly remember her audition. She had a nice voice. His mood soured.

"Jamie!" she yelled as she hung from Jamie's neck, grinning widely. He spun in a circle, trying to swing her off, and she grinned as she hopped down. She stood several inches below him. "You tried out! I can't believe it!"

"Yeah, surprise," Jamie laughed awkwardly before smiling. "Now, I don't remember you telling me that _you_ were going to..." He tugged on one of her blond pigtails with a grin. "Since when are you an a cappella girl?"

"Since when are you an a cappella boy?" she countered, sticking her tongue out. "I'm really glad you tried out for a club, Jamie. This will be so cool if we both get picked!"

Jack scowled as he fished out his phone and pretended to text. Who _was_ she?

"Yeah, yeah," Jamie shoved her. "So when are they going to contact us or whatever?"

"You'll get a call tonight if you're accepted, Pippa said. And then you go to a place and there's this initiation stuff and shit. If we're both picked, I'll see you then! I'm going out." The girl paused before the absolute biggest shit-eating grin Jack had ever seen spread across her face. "Aand, I'm telling Dad you tried out for a cappella!"

"Sophie Bennett don't you dare," Jamie threatened, looking panicked.

"Think of it this way," Sophie said, taking a few steps back with her cheshire smile. "Consider this me helping you come out to Dad. See ya!" With that, she dashed, cackling the whole way.

Jack discretely pumped his fist in victory. A sibling. Nothing to worry about. Jamie put his face in his hands and then turned around to leave, stopping when he saw Jack.

"Uh, how long have you been standing there?" he asked, looking at Jack weirdly.

"Not long, I was just texting some friends - don't worry, I wasn't listening or anything," Jack lied with an easy grin. "We're possibly going out for drinks tonight, you wanna come?"

"Ah, no thanks, I've got Philosophy homework... besides, never know if these guys'll call back, so..." Jamie trailed off and bit his lip awkwardly. "See you around, I guess."

Jack watched as he walked off and shrugged. Another day, then.

* * *

It was ten o'clock when Jack got the message telling him where to go, signed merely, 'The Guardians'. It was with a wide grin that he left the radio station and went to the pond behind the school. There he was met by the only girl in the group, Tatiana.

He took a minute to stare. She was easily the prettiest girl he had ever seen.

"Hi, Jack!" she greeted him cheerfully. She held a pale blue bag in her hand. "Congrats on your audition! You're ready to join the Guardians. I'm going to have to put this on your head, though," she held it up. "For... initiation purposes."

Sounded pretty dodgy, but, faced with that smile? He couldn't say no. "Sure thing," he nodded, hoping that he wouldn't get pushed in the lake and wash up as a corpse a few days later.

"You have the loveliest smile," she giggled in his ear as she pulled the bag down around his neck.

She propped her hands on his shoulder and started shepherding him back towards campus. "This way!"

* * *

When the bag was whipped off his head, he was in a completely different place. He couldn't say for sure where; Tatiana had led him on a meandering stroll around campus, apparently, up and down stairs and through buildings he couldn't quite localize. The room he was in was huge, furnished for a king, with red paneled walls and impressive mahogany or painted furniture and huge chairs. Standing next to him were two people he recognized from auditions: the thickset guy with the grumbly-voice, and a tall, lanky pale guy with a beaky nose.

"What, no Dingle?" he breathed, upset. What a dick move! His roommate, his only very-close friend so far at college, had introduced him to this scene, and Jack had gotten his place. Poor Dingle.

His attention was diverted to his hosts. The Guardians were an impressive bunch, that much had to be said.

Tatiana was the only girl of the original group who hadn't graduated, and the only girl in the current roster. She held herself tall despite her small stature, and smiled very easily, showing off perfect teeth. Jack couldn't help but feel bad; It must get tiring being the only girl in the group. Still, she didn't seem to mind.

Standing next to her was the sleepy-looking Sandy, a tiny guy with a warm smile and a great singing voice. Jack had never heard his speaking voice; Sandy was a man of few words. He and Jack had exchanged smiles and waves across the quad, once or twice, and had a lit class together. He was a pretty cool guy.

Nick was one of the tallest men that Jack had ever met, and his smile was even bigger. Something about his grin just felt like Christmas; he was Dingle's idol. With his little attempt at a beard growing and his wide shoulders, he looked more like a boxer than a singer, but a singer he was. He got in on a full scholarship, on a transfer from Russia, of all places. Jack had never spoken to him.

And the last of them, the big four: Bunny. Apparently, that wasn't his name, but with a last name like Bunnymund, what was he expecting? Australian, almost as tall as Nick, and with almost as many tattoos. The two of them had a bit of a rivalry going on about who exactly was the leader of the group now that the others had graduated, but Jack honestly didn't care much of their squabbles. Bunny seemed to be a bit of a jerk, from what he saw around campus, but hopefully that was just a wrong first impression.

He was drawn from his thoughts when Tatiana stepped forwards with a smile, her earrings swinging as she moved. "Jack Frost," she intoned, standing before him, before moving to the next person, "Phil Sasquatch," and finally, "Pitch Black."

"You have all passed your auditions, and -"

"And now, you are Guardians!" Nick exclaimed, pushing past Tatiana to kiss each of them on each cheek, grinning. He really did have an accent.

Jack and Phil stared at him before Pitch leaned to the side and whispered, "It's a Russian tradition." A Russian, an Australian, and now an English person; he was starting to feel like he landed in a culture club.

"All right, now that that's over, let's get out of here!" Bunny shrugged on his jacket and left, leaving the others to follow.

"Where are we going?" Jack inquired, falling into step with Nick.

"Initiation night is only that, initiation! Now, we go outside and have big party, and get very drunk with other a cappella groups. Is fun!" The Russian thumped him on his shoulder, body-checking him into the wall.

"Oops, my bad, was accident!"

* * *

Jamie surveyed the scene. Members of every a cappella group on campus were mingling together, drinking. He glanced over to where Sophie was chatting with the twins and sighed. Okay, time to try and make friends. The thought had barely crossed his mind when he heard a far-off call of "Jamie!" and let out a huff of laughter. Really?

"Jamie," Jack Frost grinned as he hopped across benches towards him, perching on the back of the nearest one, a near-empty plastic cup in his hand. "Jamie, hi. Do my eyes deceive me, or are you a Burgess Believer?"

"No, I think your eyes must be deceiving you," Jamie replied, fighting a smile despite himself.

"Face it: you're an a cappella boy, I'm an a cappella boy, we're going to have a ca-children," Jack shrugged with a dumb smile. "It's inevitable! It's destiny." He took another sip from his cup, grinning like a little boy.

"You're really drunk right now," Jamie noted. "You're not going to remember this at all, are you?"

"I'm not drunk at all," Jack protested. "I'm totally sober; you're just blurry." Jamie poked him in the chest and he swayed backwards, almost falling off the bench.

"You sure you can still stand up?"

"Yep, see, I fall... and I come back, fall... and I'm right back." Jamie laughed, and Jack grinned, feeling successful. "Did you know that Tatiana, the girl in the Guardians, her nickname is the Tooth Fairy? In freshman year some prof was creeping on her and she punched his teeth out. That is an amazing story, that is. So, who's in your group, exactly?"

Jamie chuckled and looked out among the crowd to point them out. "There's my sister Sophie, Pippa and Katherine, who seem to run this thing, then there's Cupcake over there, Monty who... I can't see, he's a geeky kid with glasses?" Jack nodded, so he continued. "And then there's Caleb and Claude. I don't know which one is which yet."

"Can I get you a drink?" Jack asked. "I think you need one, you're not even holding a cup or anything. Clearly you need to get on this level."

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks," Jamie smirked when Jack stumbled over his feet as he stood up. He turned to go and sit down somewhere when the twin with the beanie socked him in the arm.

"Yo, your audition was sick! Where'd you learn to do the cup thing? Come on, show me," he crowed, shoving an empty cup into Jamie's hands. He blinked, then smiled.

"Sure, I'll show you. Come here."

* * *

Katherine smiled enthusiastically as she and Claude discussed their favorite bands. Her smile grew sad when she spotted Pippa looking across at Jamie, who had drawn a crowd with his cup song.

"Excuse me for a minute," she said, breaking away from Claude and heading towards her friend.

"Hey," Pippa greeted, swallowing down another mouthful of her drink. "What's up?"

"You staring at Jamie Bennett," Katherine said, quirking her mouth up. "I think you've got a crush!"

"Tiny bit, yeah." Obviously this wasn't her first drink; Pippa would never confess to that if she weren't even the smallest part tipsy. "He's pretty cute, isn't he? Got the whole mysterious indie thing going on."

"I know, right?" Katherine sat down next to Pippa, her drink sloshing over the brim. "But back out while you still can, Pip; I'm seventy percent sure he's gay."

"What? Only seventy percent?" Pippa stared at her, drink forgotten. Her beret was starting to slip off her hair from dancing earlier. "Why?"

"Okay, so, when I convinced him to audition, it was because I was in the shower room with Nightlight, right? And then someone comes in - this would be Jamie - and he's singing. Like, singing super well. And so I was like, who is that? So I just pushed the curtain to see who it was, and it was him. I was all, 'You can sing!' and he was all, 'Oh my God, get dressed!' and just seemed... not interested, you know? So that's my evidence, so far."

"I don't know, maybe he just didn't want you all up in his face when he was in the shower," Pippa suggested, furrowing her brow. "That does still leave a thirty percent chance."

"I could be wrong," Katherine shrugged "Oh, I see Nightlight! Do you mind?" Pippa shook her head, and Katherine put down her cup and rose unsteadily to go and meet him, pushing through the crowd of dancers.

"You gonna drink that?" Cupcake asked, stopping nearby and pointing to her forgotten cup.

"By all means, go ahead," Pippa shrugged, waving her hand aimlessly.

"I love your hat, it really suits your face shape," Cupcake said, claiming the drink as her own.

"Oh, yeah, thanks! I like your hair, it's really great..."

* * *

Bunny and Nick stood apart from the crowds as they drank, feeling taller than usual from where they stood on a bench.

"The real question is, who would be easier to sleep with?" Nick asked, barely buzzed despite everything he had drank. "Captain America, or great white shark?"

"Oh, totally a great white shark," Bunny replied, nodding.

"Psh," a female voice said from below them. "Captain America is totally boning Tony Stark," Sophie Bennett argued. "I like your facial hair," she giggled, grinning at Bunny.

The australian widened his eyes and pushed Nick off the bench before jumping off himself. "You are... the weirdest human being I have ever met, possibly." His efforts to look at her face were rendered useless by her piercing, which attracted his eyes down to her abdomen. It was a nice abdomen. He was probably really drunk, right now.

"You're no panty-dropper yourself," she said with a wink, bumping him with her hip.

"I..." Bunny started, blinking a few times. "Am getting the feeling that we should kiss." His voice was gruffer due to all the alcohol in his system. "Is that a - is that a good idea, or...?"

"Mmh, yeah, I sometimes think that I can huff paint, but then I think 'ooh, better not'," Sophie pursed her lips as she answered.

"Okay... so, do you want my number, or..."

"Sure!" She pulled out his phone to dial it in, the rest of her sentence drowned by the increased volume of the music.

* * *

Jack was singing as he brought Jamie back a glass, somehow still standing. "Sorry 'bout the delay, sir!" He presented the plastic cup with a bow and a flourish. "Tooth Fairy stuck her hands in my mouth. Apparently, my teeth sparkle like freshly fallen snow... Do they?"

"Oh, yeah," Jamie smirked. "Absolutely. Cheers," he downed his drink. Jack crowed in approval and dragged him down to dance.

* * *

Dingle tilted his hat back and forth in his hands, listening to the bells chime as he sang along softly to the distant music, watching the lights above his head flicker red and green from where he laid alone in his bed.

* * *

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	3. Rehearsals

**A.N/ **The chapters are just getting shorter and shorter, aie! Next one will be the Riff Off though, so I'm super excited!

I changed the Aubrey/Beca dynamic a lot because Pippa is one of my babies, and I don't want her to be a total bitch ^^; So some friendly Pippa/Jamie there, folks, since Jack isn't in this one. Writing the Burgess Believers is never not fun.

Feel free to comment and tell me what you think, or leave suggestions!

* * *

Jamie woke up with a killer hangover, and a bottle of Gatorade to the face.

He sat up suddenly, glaring at Sophie and rubbing his eye. "Dude, what the heck?"

"Rise and shine, brother," she sang, already dressed. "Hurry up and get dressed. We have rehearsal in like fifteen minutes, but if you hurry we might have time to get Starbucks before we get there."

"Rehearsal at eight in the morning after a party? What are they, nuts?" Jamie stumbled out of bed, still wearing his shirt from the night before. After the party he had barely been able to find his dorm room; he was just a bit of a lightweight. Just a bit.

"Starbucks is expensive," he mumbled as he tugged on his jeans, forgotten on the floor and swapped his shirt for another. God, his head was absolutely killing him. He tugged the cap of his Gatorade bottle off with his teeth and downed about half of it.

"Yeah, Dad gave me fifty dollars when I told him I got you to join a club, I'm planning to spend it on junk food and face paint. Which means I'm offering you Starbucks. Brush your teeth and lets go."

"Aye, aye."

* * *

Another half-bottle of Gatorade, a chai latte, and two cinnamon buns later, the Bennett siblings were sitting in the Music and Arts building of BU with the rest of the Believers, all showing similar hangover signs. The only ones who looked relatively chipper were Katherine and Pippa; not counting Monty, who didn't drink.

"Alright, people. As you can see, Mavis isn't here today," Pippa said, pulling away her empty chair. "Last night, she broke her oath and got Guardi-boned, and is therefore un-invited to the Burgess Believers."

Jamie stared at her. From the little he had seen of her, she seemed sweet. He hadn't even seen her much at the party, where she was down dancing in the middle of the crowd.

"That oath was serious?" Cupcake asked, lifting both of her eyebrows. Jamie tried to remember the oath they had sworn, grimacing at the headache.

'I promise to never have sexual relations with a Guardian, lest my vocal chords be ripped out by wolves.'

"Dixie Chicks serious!" Pippa explained. "It's an age-old tradition, Cupcake. And besides, we're rivals."

"Yeah, so are Batman and Catwoman, but that doesn't stop them," Sophie said around the mouth of her coffee cup.

"Nu uh, Talia al Ghul is way cooler than Catwoman!" Monty huffed, crossing his arms in his seat.

"Guys," Pippa stopped the two of them by raising a hand. "Case in point, you can fool around with whoever you want, just not a Guardian."

"That's not going to be easy," Caleb grinned where he was lounging easily. "He's a hunter," he said conspiratorially, indicating his crotch with a one-fingered point.

Cupcake turned around in her seat to look at him. "Wait, do guys call their dicks 'he's?"

"Well, you're not gonna call it Christina," Caleb retorted, earning a snort from his brother and Jamie.

"GUYS!"

Everyone turned back to face Pippa, who cleared her throat.

"Okay, I get that it's pretty early, and we all partied a little hard last night." For the first time that morning, she smiled easily at them. "And it's really great that everyone is getting along together. But this is the first rehearsal, so I'd really like things to go smoothly."

Jamie bit his lip and shrugged. Seemed logical enough.

"Okay, Katherine is going to hand out a list of every song we've ever performed." As Katherine did so, their leader continued to talk. "Now, up until a few years ago, the BBs were an all-female group, so to keep tradition, we've only ever sung songs made famous by women. Most of them are pretty old-fashioned, too, but that's okay, because that still leaves us a pretty wide repertoire."

"There's nothing from this century on here," Claude exclaimed, looking up from his list at Pippa.

"We know," Katherine shrugged. "Like we said, it's tradition. But we make it work! We'll be practicing at least two hours every day - not including breaks, of course - in this hall, plus cardio, which you guys will have to do on your own."

"Wait, why cardio?" Jamie blinked, incredulous.

"Yeah, don't put me down for cardio." Cupcake raised her hand, shaking her head.

Pippa chuckled and went to flip over the whiteboard, switching from their weekly schedule to a huge, extensive flow chart. "This, my friends, is how we will become champions!" she declared.

* * *

The following two hours and a half were strange. Not entirely unpleasant, once the last dregs of Jamie's hangover faded, but strange nonetheless.

After a warm-up, Pippa had them all practice imitating individual instruments, emphasizing the mouth movements to an almost caricatural level. Monty's shoulders bounced up and down when he sang, and Katherine had to man-handle Caleb into standing straight; he just couldn't stop trying to dance suggestively, no matter the tune.

They had to run several laps around the bleachers to work on breathing, which was one way to wake everybody up. The girls were all supporting their chests as they sped up and down the stairs, and Claude smacked his brother for leering. On their last lap everyone was treated to a slap on the ass by Pippa; all except Cupcake and Monty, who had been hiding under the bleachers to try and get out of the exercise.

The girls were given pairs of shiny black pumps that Sophie had called "flight attendant shoes", and walked in circles around the room to break them in.

Katherine and Pippa demonstrated the first steps of the choreography: basic arm movements, turns, the like, and the others copied to the best of their extent. Jamie stumbled during the spinning, confused as to what to do with his hands, and Caleb kept on trying to add his own personal touches to the sets. He had to be told a number of times that wiggling his junk would ruin the number.

A brief half-hour of silliness then ensued, resulting from a challenge that Sophie had issued to Cupcake; everyone busted out their most ridiculous dance moves, the best being when Monty did the robot, Claude started break dancing, and Sophie sent her leg so high in the air that she kicked Jamie in the face.

Once the actual proper dancing started, however, things started going sour. Nobody was in proper sync, people bumped into one another, and the boys grumbled throughout the whole ordeal.

Pippa sighed and turned off the music. "Okay, I'm calling it guys. End of today's rehearsal."

"I just twirled more than I ever have in my life," Claude whispered to his brother.

Caleb was of the same opinion. "I think I need to punch a puppy to feel like a man again."

"Hey, Pippa, was that the same choreography that you guys danced last year?" Monty asked.

Pippa either ignored him, or didn't hear. "Okay, people, don't forget to come pick up your performance schedules," she encouraged as she handed out the papers. "We have a gig next week, for Sigma-Beta-Theta's fall mixer. It's a bit close, but I think we can do it!"

Once everyone had claimed their sheet of paper, Pippa turned back to face them with a smile. "Hands in!" she commanded. Katherine immediately grinned and placed her hand on top of her friend's.

The others blinked, looking at one another, each waiting for someone else to go first.

"I said in, a ca-bitches!"

The group started and rushed to pile their hands into the stack.

"Okay," Pippa explained. "Sing 'aah' -"

"Aaaaaaaaaah!" Cupcake sang loudly.

"No," Pippa laughed. "It's on three, Cupcake."

Cupcake let out a nervous noise. "Whoops! Sorry."

"Okay. One, two -" Pippa, Katherine, Jamie and Monty hit the note, Sophie and Caleb counted to three before singing along, and Cupcake and Claude just let their voices die out.

Katherine bit her lip. "We'll work on that first thing next week," she admitted. "Okay guys, see you tomorrow!"

The group dispersed, people talking among themselves and discussing the rehearsal. When Pippa saw that Jamie was leaving she bit her lip and called him over. "Jamie? A word."

When the boy approached, she smiled at him. "This is just rehearsal, so it's okay that you're not wearing it, but for the fall mixer, be sure to wear your scarf, okay? You can wear it as a bow-tie, or an arm-band, or whatever, but it is our symbol, so be sure to have it, okay?"

Jamie stared at her, unsure of what she was talking about, until he remembered the yellow scarf he had thrown on the floor of his dorm room after the party. "Oh, right. Sure thing."

"And try to keep your toner for Jack under control, yeah?" She winked.

"I'm sorry, my what?" he inquired, furrowing his brow.

"Toner. Musical boner," Pippa clarified. "I saw it at midnight last night, it's distracting."

"Okay," Jamie said, smothering a laugh. "Firstly, that's not a thing; and second, that's none of your business."

"Sorry!" Pippa smiled apologetically. "Do what you want. Just remember, you swore an oath!"

"Yeah," Jamie drawled, nudging her, "What with our astounding numbers, I do believe you need me more than I need you."

She whacked him around the head with her paper. "I can see your toner through those jeans!" she teased.

"That's my dick," Jamie grinned as he joined Sophie at the door and walked out.

* * *

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